POLICE trapped a major drugs dealer after finding crack cocaine dumped in an alleyway.
Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday how Keith Liburd threw away packages of the drug to try and fool police.
But detectives were on his trail and their perseverance paid off.
Liburd, formerly of Huddersfield, is now starting an eight-year jail term after pleading guilty to drugs offences.
The court was told how he had previously been jailed for the manslaughter of his pregnant girlfriend.
In yesterday's case prosecutor Mushtaq Khokhar said a search of an alleyway revealed a package of crack cocaine which had been discarded by Liburd and under a nearby bush there were further packages of the drugs.
In total crack cocaine worth £4,600 was recovered and officers then executed a search warrant at the home of Liburd and his 37-year-old partner Melanie Suffield.
At their house in Halton Place, Great Horton, Bradford, officers found drug-dealing paraphernalia such as electronic scales and also seized cash totalling almost £22,600 from various locations in the property.
The court heard that identification numbers entered on Suffield's mobile phone related to the seals on the safety deposit box which Liburd's 49-year-old sister Tessa had held at a branch of Barclays Bank in Huddersfield since 1996. Her brother was released from his previous five-year sentence in March 2001 and Mr Khokhar said it was noteworthy that the box had not been opened while he was in custody.
Between April and August 2001, however, his sister had visited the bank four times to use the safety deposit box and when police opened it they found it contained just over £40,000.
Mr Khokhar said tests later confirmed that the money was "heavily contaminated" with cocaine and heroin.
The trio finally entered guilty pleas in July last year after two previous trials had been aborted and yesterday both Suffield, who is the mother of Liburd's daughter, and Tessa Liburd were ordered to do 200 hours community service work for their roles.
Suffield, who had no previous convictions, admitted aiding and abetting her partner to conceal the proceeds of drug trafficking on the basis that she had transferred money from him to his sister.
Tessa Liburd, of Hall Cross Road, Lowerhouses, Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to concealing the proceeds of drug trafficking.
She maintained that she had originally obtained the box for a legitimate purpose and after her brother refused to take his money out of it she allowed him to continue using it.
Judge Peter Benson said he took the view that the two women had been used by Liburd to conceal the cash and he was just able to draw back from sending them immediately into custody.
Keith Liburd pleaded guilty to possessing the crack cocaine with intent to supply, but Judge Benson said that offence had to looked at in the context of the cash seized by police.
"This is a serious matter and someone with your record must expect to face a substantial term of custody," he told Liburd.
At a previous hearing orders had been made for the confiscation of all the cash recovered by police and yesterday Judge Benson also ordered the destruction of the drugs seized.
Keith Liburd's barrister Alastair Edie described him as a devoted father to his young daughter and said that since his arrest in September 2001 he had not been in any further trouble.
"Your honour may think there is some basis in this case for looking forward to a period when Mr Liburd is not a deficit to society but an asset," he added.
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